Zaccharie Risacher Reportedly Seen as Trade Candidate Amid Anthony Davis, Hawks Rumors

The Atlanta Hawks may be willing to push all their chips onto the table to compete for a title this season if it means getting Anthony Davis in return.

According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, "It is also increasingly believed that Atlanta is willing to surrender Zaccharie Risacher in the proverbial right scenario, since the No. 1 overall pick in the draft just 18 months ago has not developed as the Hawks would have hoped to this point. Yet even if the Hawks are prepared to package Risacher with the expiring contracts held by Kristaps Porziņģis and Luke Kennard for Davis, it is unclear how much additional draft compensation they would be willing (or able) to add to the deal to convince the Dallas Mavericks part with Davis in-season."

That follows a report from NBA on Prime's Chris Haynes on Friday that the Hawks "remain very intrigued" in potentially trading for Davis, though Dallas likely would prioritize getting back expiring contracts, draft picks and young players like Risacher rather than Young.

Risacher, 20, is averaging just 10.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists this season, shooting 45.5 from the field and 33.3 percent from three. Outside of the assists, all of those marks are worse than what he offered as a rookie.

Meanwhile, young players like Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Asa Newell and Onyeka Okongwu feel like the core group of the future. Young's future in Atlanta is very much up in the air, but that aforementioned group—paired with the team owning the New Orleans Pelicans' first-rounder at a 2026 draft that very well could end up being a top-three selection—could make a player like Risacher expendable in a win-now move.

Dallas obviously will seek that Pelicans' pick, though the Hawks should make that a nonstarter seeing as it could turn into Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa or Cameron Boozer. That possibility is arguably far more valuable than landing the 32-year-old Davis.

Plus the Hawks have other draft assets they could dangle, including the pick swap rights to the less favorable of first-rounders between the Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks in 2027. That could become particularly valuable if the Bucks ultimately trade Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Pelicans remain a lottery team, which are both very distinct possibilities.

The Hawks also own swap rights to whichever is less favorable between Utah and Cleveland's first-round picks in 2028. And Atlanta owns its own picks without swap rights between 2029-32.

If the Hawks want to straddle building for the future with a win-now move like adding Davis, they have the assets necessary to pull it off. And whether it's even the right move for a 15-18 team that has lost 10 of its last 12 games is another conversation worth having.

And of course, Dallas may not even be moved by a package like the ones floated by Stein and Haynes. But if Atlanta wants to straddle several team-building timelines, it's likely their best route to do so.